The elementary school
That was the second day I just arrived at JAF., strolling and trying to search for this area. Suddenly, the
sound of laughing attracted me to walk into a small alley. A huge square with mosque came into view, and the children were talking, running and laughing naivety there. Some mothers sit under a big Banyan tree, which is the tree that I like most. To see it more clearly, I came to the tree and said "Hi" to mothers in polite, but they responded to me in a very warmly way, like I am an old friend that they have not seen for a long time. Though our language was different, they still talked to me and showed me their cute daughters with no alerts. Also, the children ran to me to ask taking photos together. Their smile was shining under the sun, glowing with the pearl white tooth. It's like walking into another world that doesn't exist on this planet.
That day, I felt as if I am home, not only because of the warm sunlight but also because of the open-minded
people here.
First day in the garage studio
That day, I was told have to make my sculpture in the Sukaraja factory unprepared. It made me stressed a lot. Didn't know Jatiwangi yet, not to mention to "Sukaraja".
Amazingly, the village people came to help me without hesitation. Parking car to another place, moving the table to the garage together, lent me their water buckets, bring food and supply to me, and even tell me can take a rest in their home!!! I felt grateful and astonished at the same time. I took their garage and also a children's playground to turn into a studio, but they had no complain and help me like that? What generous people! It’s also the first day I known Lina Marlina, a young Sukaraja girl, who has a beautiful little daughter. I couldn't speak in Sukaraja language, but luckily clever Lina could speak in English very well. She visited often and taught me lots of stories about Sukaraja and Indonesia, and even prepared a great welcome party!
Without them, I would work lonely and bored. Of course, several cups of ice coffee every day are indispensable too!
Food and Cat I'm a fxxking terrible cooker and hate to cook very much. But most residency, artists have to cook by themselves and even cook for other artists sometimes. Yet in JAF, not only don't need to cook, but also lavish every meal!! Though I can't eat spicily, tempeh, rice with kecap and coconut soup are fresh new delicious food for me! As to street foods, I was impressed by ketoprak, baso solo, Serabi, rice with fried chicken‌ different from Taiwanese way, but somehow there are some similarities. I was interested in seeking the similarities and differences. When food nourished my body, the cat lifted my spirits. They were both my tender land here.
The Studio and The Water Whistle Workshop The garage studio became better and better because of Pigi, Iwan and many others’ finishing. I had my first workshop with a group of college students, who were the interns of JAF. They majored in performance art. Though not familiar to clay, they still showed their great talent in shapes.
We played with whistles, chatting and singing songs, and children came and had fun with clay too. It was a relaxed, free and successful workshop for me. The most important is never the results, but the process!
Workshop With Kids After the day I met those mothers and the school kids, I always thought about them. There was a voice said to me: "Let's do something with them!" I decided to please them to make water whistles with me, thus we can exhibit together. One day, Jai companied me to ask the elementary principle that if we could have a workshop with some students. He said yes and was so generous to let me teach 70 students!! 70 !! What a huge group!!
So, all the people started to prepare: Amy prepared the clay, Joni prepared the wire, Piqi prepared the ice cream stick tools, Baylla and Ika came to translate for me.(Wow! “Lair”’s main singer came to help me?cool!) In the class, all the students flocked to me and said 'Miss, Miss, how to do this; Miss, Miss,how to do that?" Wow! It's really a big challenge!
That day I was exhausted after class, but my heart was satisfied. It might be my illusion, but I felt closer to this area and this land after the workshop. And also I got plenty of water whistles at the same time!! Alhamdulillah!!
On The Daily Road
When I rode to Jebor, I saw those sceneries every day. Fields, mountain, plastic bag decorations full of wind, tomb‌I cherished them very much because I knew that once I went back to Taiwan, I wouldn't see them anymore.
Now, when I think about Indonesia, they are like slides showing in my brain, again, and again, and again.
Jarabria
Jarabria is my favorite dessert when I worked in Jebor. There was a woman who always came here to sell that to me. They taste like donuts, but not so sweet. My stomach and soul were pacified by them every afternoon..
It became classical conditioning for me at last. If the woman didn't come here, I felt lost something on that day.
The Wedding It was my honor to join Joni’s friend’s traditional beautiful wedding!! The bride was gorgeous, and the stage was luxury. The most peculiar thing for me was -- everyone could go upstage casually!! It's so different from the Taiwanese way, although this is certain, I steel feel astonished! How free and happy!! It’s difficult to enjoy the weddings in Taiwan, because guests are asked to seat with strangers overcautious, and also have to dress well--too well to me.
But here, It seems that guests are allowed to wear what they want, even sandal. Children are free to run everywhere, and people feel happy in a true heart. For me, this kind of free atmosphere shows more blessings to the bride and groom, not because how luxury the form of wedding, but the deeply happy for their new life!
The funeral After the wedding, I passed by a graveyard. The two red doors evoked my curiosity. I went inside to take a look. The feeling of Muslim tombs is also very different from Taiwan's. How to say that, quiet, peaceful of course, and ....ethereal.....? Not horrible at all. Maybe because of those big beautiful trees? I was not sure, but anyway I loved it very much and visited there many times after that.
There was a funeral. Some people were burying the body. The family looked like accepting the truth, and the process was quiet but colorful-- people could wear pink and red, and the flowers were full of color too. I couldn't help thinking about the funeral of Taiwan. Shades of red are prohibited when we going to the funeral. In the most traditional Taiwanese funeral, sons or daughters should cry as loud as they can to show their mourning. So many differences made me think more deeply about death.
The rehearsal night of the Independence day
Amazing again!!! Why are there so many performances on Independence Day? Why does everybody look so happy on this day? I couldn't understand at all. Comparing the history of Indonesia and Taiwan, it is the same story about we were ruled by Netherland and Japan, and Taiwan even been ruled by Japan longer than Indonesia. But when it comes to Independence Day now, most Taiwanese start to plan about where to travel? Where to eat? Who to date? To join a costume play parade? No way! Preparing dramas with all neighbors and villages? No way! Make concerted efforts to celebrating nationally? Impossible!!!
So that night, the drama rehearsal in Sukaraja was an eye-open experience for me!! How come people go to rehearse voluntarily? How come people prepare flag, suit, sword in full of joy? It's still a mystery for me now!
A Leisure Life Style
I love this picture because of the invisible air inside. I can even smell it from this photo, full of leisure, slow movement, and "no worries" in the gentle wind. The atmosphere exists in Sukaraja Super SDN factory, in Jatiwangi, maybe in all Indonesia too. How did it form?
I can just explain through my feeling. It seems that the life purpose of all Indonesian is looking for happiness. Especially the happiness of "right now". Live in the present! Nothing matter except this moment. Through involving in "right now" deeply, people feel happy because "later" won't bother them. Happy in working now, happy in eating now, happy in waiting now, happy in singing, dancing, praying... It forms this: slow, not to hurry, but simple, powerful concentration!
The Preparation of Bakaran Gerabah (The Victory on the Independence Day)
17th August, on the Indonesia independence Day, when other people were celebrating, we "spicy team" got an important mission: asking the firing permission from the owner of Jebor. The first time, we didn't get his permission before that day. He asked us to find another place to fire my sculpture for some safety concerns. But it was extremely dangerous to transport unfired fragile clay work and might cause unrecover damage during transportation. Ismal, Piqi, Akung and I decided to explain the difficulties and to persuade Mr.Owner again. Magically, we even didn't meet him but he said yes! "Yes, Yes, Yes", I was as happy as I got a successful marriage proposal!! Thanks for Mr.and Mrs.Owner, and thanks for praying and the Independence Day, and the most important-- the spicy team’s effort!!(I like this photo cause I looked like invisible~~)
There were plenty of preparing work for Bakaran Gerabah(the traditional firing). First, making clay bricks. I don't exactly know the purpose of those bricks, but I guess that is for preventing different shrinkage between works and the roof tile layer. It was a huge project to make those tiles because we didn't have much time before the firing day, and we also needed to let them dry totally to fire. Pigi, Akung and Apah Ita made those tiles day and night, 3 types with different thicknesses, and each type had one hundred! Second, before arranging the kiln, we had to cut the wood board under the sculpture for fitting the kiln. Third, to transport plenty of straw for firing. Forth, praying with coconut, cigarettes, and flowers!!
Come On Baby Light My Fire!
The flame seemed not to belong to the world. Swaying in the deep darkness, shining with the stars and moon, like a secret magical creature, breathing under the straw.
That day, we fired the kiln from 3 P.M. until 11 P.M, shorter than I expected. It was a great experience. The main controller was Apah Ita, who is the most experienced man in the traditional kiln firing. The thing I could do was just watching and learning. Though there were some small explosions at the beginning, as the firing process went by, the temperature went up well. Apah Ita could judge through his experience that when is the right time to add the straw, made the inside flame turned into gorgeous purple-blue.
There was a magic story. Before firing, the cigarettes for praying disappeared from the air! We couldn't find it at all. Guess god accepted our praying, hahaha~~~
The Work Itself
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Usually, the model of ceramic residency is like this: we plan what we want to do before getting there, and start to make works as soon as possible after arriving, because it takes time to let the clay body dry. The process is smooth but lacks the context of the environment. After coming here, I started to learn different art working style: involving in every process by yourself but with a group!! Especially the "group" concept shocks and surprises me! I never experience that in any other place. Now I still try to learn more about that and cannot describe clearly, just feeling a strong power, not about speed, not about accuracy, but deep thoughts and rich cultural background.
I hope this work( I can't say "my work" cause it's actually group's work) could reveal that feeling : blur but rich, slow but deep.
The Last and Special Thanks
I didn't want to end this residency. The feeling even flows out from my fingers while I'm typing this article now. I enjoyed the living in Jatiwangi and Sukaraja, and felt full of energy but relax at the same time, even when I did nothing except sitting in the garage studio all day long. So I looked sentimental when I was ready to leave the Super SDN studio.